Clover

Clover is our main forage in our food plots. If I could only plant one crop it would be clover and I often recommend clover as the base crop for anyone who is just starting to plant food plots.

Clover was our first planting back in the early 90's when we used a rototiller to plant our small plots and we've had clover planted ever since.

Clover is not real difficult to get started but the weather in the weeks after you plant and competition from grass can diminish your results. A few years ago we did have one clover plot fail. We planted in the late summer and then we had very dry weather. This plot never did take off and grow. Due to commonly having dry weather in the late summer I've recently quit planting clover at this time opting instead for an annual. Then, I can plant clover in the spring when we generally get more moisture.

Grass competition can also be a problem. The past couple of years we've started using a grass herbicide, which has helped. So far we've only used Arrest, but any grass herbicide with Sethoxydim as the active ingredient will do the job.

We also try to keep our clover plots mowed. We don't have a magic height that we look for before we mow. Several years ago we did lose a clover plot that we allowed the weeds get close to three feet high in. We mowed the plot but the clover never recovered. We generally try to mow them before they reach a foot of weed or grass growth.

As is the case with any food plot in a non-agricultural area, deer can decimate a small food plot and they can clean up a small clover plot as well. We started seeing better results as we increased the amount of acreage we had in clover.

Generally clover plots come on strong in the spring and early summer and back off in the late summer. On a number of occasions I've gave up on a clover plot in the fall to see it jump back strong in the spring. In the late summer and fall of 2011 our weather was cool and wet which allowed the clover to thrive much later than usual. You never know what the weather is going to hand you.

So far we've used Imperial Whitetail, Durana, Tecomate Monster Mix and AlfaRack Plus clover and clover mixes....... that I can remember. We've had success with each brand. The biggest factor in the success of our plots has been the weather in the weeks after it has been planted.

I do try to use clover mixes made for forage/grazing as opposed to those made for cutting and baling. They produce more leaves, which the deer prefer and gain the most nutrition from. The varieties for hay are more stem than leaves.

Here is a picture of on of our clover food plots taken in late May.

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